In a coalition era, the smallest of parties gets almost blackmail power and that power is in direct proportion to the weakness of the senior coalition partner. Which is why, for instance, even in an era of coalitions, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a lot more powerful than Manmohan Singh is.
The Supreme Court has admitted for hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) alleging a major scam during the tenure of Praful Patel as the Civil Aviation Minister in the UPA-I government.
A bench of justices H L Dattu and C K Prasad sought response from the government, the national carrier and CBI on a petition filed by an NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation, alleging that various decisions taken during the tenure of Patel were meant to benefit private airlines and caused huge loss to Air India.
Are faulty design, hurried construction and private ownership to be blamed for the incidents of airport roofs crashing?
Some of the Congressmen, though, are opposing such a alliance saying that the party would waste seats if they have pre-poll alliance with the NCP.
The court had appointed former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi as the administrator-cum-returning officer to conduct the fresh polls to the sports body.
Air India had placed an order for 68 aircraft, including Boeing 737s, 777s and 787s, all valued at $11 billion in Dec 2005.
The letter was sent as an early warning of what was then widely being perceived as a plunder of national resources.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday set aside the election of Praful Patel, who was last year elected as the president of All India Football Federation for a four-year term, his third successive tenure.
Two weeks' time given to CBI for filing a fresh status report.
The reshuffle in the Cabinet of Ministers in the United Progressive Alliance II threw up a few surprises on Wednesday.
The minister, while speaking at the event organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi on Wednesday, said the problems at AI did not come up overnight. The airline's high-cost structure and the compulsions of being a public sector unit had been the reasons and it had been making a loss, he said. AI is to incur a loss of over Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 70 billion) this fiscal year.
Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel said he would be ordering an inquiry into the tragic accident, and added that notwithstanding the inclement weather, it was the pilot's duty to determine a flight could be taken or not.
Former Director General and CEO of IATA, Giovanni Bisignani, says Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal developed his airline's business class mock-ups in utter secrecy inside the garage of his London home.
Various airlines in India have engaged nearly 1,000 foreign pilots. However, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has advised all scheduled, non-scheduled and general aviation operators to submit their plan to phase out foreign pilots and replace them by trained Indian pilots. As per the plan, all the foreign pilots are likely to be repatriated in about 5 years time. Government has taken steps to reduce the gap between demand and supply of skilled India pilots.
Airlines owe a huge sum of Rs 75,701 lakh (Rs 757.01 crore) to Airports Authority of India till September, 2004, Minister of state of Civil Aviation Praful Patel informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
In the previous decade, the government, with Praful Patel as the civil aviation minister, saw the introduction of an irrational 5/20 policy.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's aircraft got disconnected with the control tower of the Delhi airport for nine seconds recently, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Indian Airlines proposes to commence its own retail courier and freight services to tap the huge domestic courier/cargo business, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
Government considers a proposal to give sops to airlines for linking metropolitan cities and small towns, Union minister for civil aviation Praful Patel informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
A first officer (junior and senior) can earn in the range of Rs 1.2 lakh to 1.8 lakh per month. The commander commands anywhere between Rs 2.5 to Rs 4 lakh a month.
Rising number of airlines has meant soaring demand for pilots. A look at this high-flying option.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation is planning to start flights connecting about 120 cities in the country from the current 81 cities, said Praful Patel, Union Minister for Civil Aviation.
A coordination committee shall monitor the start up clearances to manage and prioritise the movement of flights during fog.
The CBI today registered three FIRs and a preliminary enquiry to probe alleged irregularities in Indian Airlines-Air India merger and purchase of 111 aircraft, leasing of planes and giving up of profit-making routes by Air India, causing a loss of thousands of crore of rupees.
The inaugural Air-India Boeing 747-400 Mumbai-Los Angeles flight, carrying 170 passengers, was on Friday flagged off by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel.
After months of uncertainty, there is finally a glimmer of hope for the proposed Navi Mumbai airport. Environment & Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh told a TV channel today that he had already spoken to his counterpart in the aviation ministry, Praful Patel, and hoped "to find a compromise soon". "There will be an agreement. Our team is going to Navi Mumbai," Ramesh said.
A bill to award death penalty to hijackers and give the right to security forces to shoot down an aircraft which may be used as a missile is likely to be brought in Parliament in the next session.
A Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said like the Indian Cricket Board, AIFF can also be asked to frame an amended constitution incorporating the suggestions of the Delhi high court.
Air India delayed the payment of March salary to its employees by a month as it had to meet year-end expenses for various purposes, Parliament was informed on Thursday.
Government plans a new look for the Indira Gandhi International Airport before the Commonwealth Games in 2010, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
The Global Indian Award is given to a person who has had an impact on and contributed in some way to the growth of the Indian and global economy.
India and Sri Lanka consider an open sky policy within the framework of the air traffic agreement of the SAARC nations.
The Nationalist Congress Party said on Thursday it will fight the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat with the Congress and talks on seat sharing has already started and it is expected to be finalised in next couple of days.
As many as 128 pilots have left Air India, Indian Airlines and Alliance Airways between 2004 and 2006, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
The government is examining alleged financial irregularities, sources of funding and other aspects of Jet Airways, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.
As many as 460 foreign nationals are working as commanders in flights by domestic carriers to meet the shortage of pilots, Minister of state for Civil Aviation Praful Patel informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
As many as 170 out of the 454 airports and airstrips available in the country were non-operational, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday.
Air India had to ground 281 flights over the past three years, most of them due to a technical snags.
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